Repurposing Holiday Cheer: Goats Chew On Christmas Trees At Bonton Farms
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It's a unique way to give your old Christmas tree a second life. Bonton Farms in South Dallas started a recycling program this year, and it feeds more than the land.
They are the trees of Christmas in the not-so-distant past, and their work in that capacity is done. But the thousand or so that found their way to Bonton Farms were treated to an unexpected future.
"We've had Moms and Dads bring down their Christmas trees one at a time. We've had truckloads. I think we had 10 pallets of Christmas trees just show up," said Trog Trogdon, Vice-President of Bonton Farms.
The trees are stripped of their limbs, which are devoured by Bonton's resident goats.
"You would think it was ice cream," said Trogdon.
"Neat and weird, because I've never seen that before," said 10-year-old Charles Szklarski.
The extra wood will be used for wood chips or kindling. And the rest?
"The trunk of the tree we're going to send to a friend who's going to make canes for veterans. And so everything is recycled in this whole project," said Trogdon.
Because the mission at Bonton Farms is second chances, for everything and everyone.
"What people think is trash or they think is throwaway or they think can't be used again, we repurpose," Trogdon said. "This is just another story of restoration from a Christmas tree that was used over a season, a beautiful season, and now people think, 'Well, I'm done with it,' but it can be used again."
It saves money on feed for the goats.
"They think it's a buffet, so I have to kind of manage it a little bit," said Farm Manager Danny George.
And gives those who donate a lesson in both the land and life.
"It's really neat to show them that something can live on, and it doesn't have to just be thrown away. The spirit of Christmas gets to live on a lot longer," said Jennifer Szklarski, who donated her tree.
Bonton Farms says they will take trees for just a few more days. And they do plan to do this again next year.